Back to The Wall in ODIs

With Virender Sehwag unable to recover in time from a shoulder injury sustained during the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL), the national selection panel called up Rahul Dravid to the one-day team after a gap of nearly two years.

While the IPL proved Sehwag’s undoing, it was Dravid’s success in the same tournament in South Africa — where the Champions League will be played from September 22 — that paved the way for his return to the 50-over game.

Dravid was one of the standout performers in the second edition of the IPL, scoring 271 runs at a strike rate of 115.81 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore, who finished runners-up.

Dravid, who averages 39.49 from 333 ODIs and is one of only three Indian batsmen to score 10,000 runs in the format, last played an ODI against Australia in October 2007.

The former Indian captain was typically composed when the confirmation of his selection to the ODI team to play the tri-series in Sri Lanka and then the Champions Trophy came. “It’s nice to be back, I am very happy,” Dravid told Hindustan Times from Bangalore. “I am looking forward to the Sri Lanka tri-series and the Champions Trophy in South Africa, to giving it my best. It will be nice to catch up with the boys once again.”